Every day we have a choice. We can support an up and coming podcaster, try a new family-run restaurant, join a boutique gym started by a local fitness champ or we could keep giving away our money to the handful of giants who already control so much of our commerce. Our daily decisions impact the kind world we live in; if we want a world where small businesses are growing and artists and creatives are thriving then we should support them with our time, money and attention. We’re proud to highlight inspiring creatives and entrepreneurs each week in Hidden Gems series. Check out some of our latest local gem features below.
Emeka “King Mek” Iheama
Cleveland native & Nigerian decent King Mek used struggle , intellect , passion. Experience and creativity to create the Mekanomics Brand. Read more>>
Billy Guan
I went to school at UC Davis for a degree in psychology. After graduation in 2012, I found myself not being to find much meaningful work. I worked as a tutor for kids with autism for a few years for barely any pay. It was around that time that I met someone that eventually introduced me to my mentor in Financial Services. Read more>>
Professor Majïç
My music career began in 2020, by 2022 I was offered a professional recording contract from Stone Throw Records and signed a distribution deal with ROC Nation. I’ve decided to not release anymore new music until I’ve completed building the label needed to move forward on the next series of new releases. Read more>>
Christine Dargon
I started Emerald Waves Healing & Treasure Chest, LLC in 2017 with a simple belief: that health and wellness shouldn’t be a luxury. I’d spent years teaching psychology at the college level and seeing firsthand how much stress, isolation, and lack of access to affordable movement and self-care affect people’s mental and physical health. Read more>>
Taylor Haines
Hi! I started my blog in 2018 as a fashion blog, but I quickly realized my audience wasn’t as interested in that content. I decided to pivot to food, and that’s when everything really started to grow! Read more>>
Cecilia Berkley
I did not begin this journey with the dream of building a skincare brand or becoming a mentor. I began with a deep desire to understand healing and to help women experience beauty in a more meaningful way. For more than twenty years, I have devoted my life to helping women understand that beauty is never just about the skin. Read more>>
Jamie Munoz
Like many entrepreneurs, my path wasn’t linear. Early in my career, I discovered I wasn’t energized by being the visionary with all the ideas—I came alive helping other entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life. I found my passion in operations, leadership, and creating clarity from complexity. Read more>>
Rodolfo Reyes
I grew up watching my parents work endlessly, we had some rough patches along the way and eventually moved to the US from Mexico. I started working at a very early age and kept honing my skills in many different kitchens as I grew up. Read more>>
Paul Farahvar
Chicago based Comedian Paul Farahvar delights audiences with his unique, quick witted dry humor, centered on being a practical but aging bachelor and former litigator. After quickly becoming a staple on the Chicago Comedy Scene for years at his home club Laugh Factory, he began touring, first as a feature for headliners like Demetri Martin and Gary Gulman, and later as a headliner. Read more>>
Latasha Burger
Like a lot of people, my spiritual journey really began after a major life change. I moved away from my hometown and, even though it was a fresh start, I felt like something was missing. That feeling led me inward. I started doing deep healing work and found myself naturally drawn to learning how to read energy. Read more>>
Connor Daily
My musical journey started as a teenager playing drums in punk rock bands in the San Francisco Bay Area & continued into my 20s with reggae and rock bands. After attending Lightning in a Bottle music festival I fell in love with electronic music and soon after began learning djing and producing. Read more>>
Sarah DEletto
My career began as a PCU nurse at Banner, where I developed a strong clinical foundation and a deep commitment to patient care. Drawn to the artistry and precision of aesthetic medicine, I transitioned into aesthetics and have now been injecting for over six years. Read more>>
Diane Hope
Diane Hope Ph.D. was a research professor running a large urban ecology study for the National Science Foundation at Arizona State University when she became interested in audio and the sounds of the world around us. Since 2006 (with brief forays back into science research) she has been a freelance sound recordist, documentary audio producer, sound designer, and writer. Read more>>
Alexandria Carroll
The Modern Alien started from a love of creating and seeing potential where other people didn’t. I’ve always been drawn to thrift stores, vintage clothing, and unique textiles, and I realized I could transform those forgotten pieces into something completely new. Read more>>
Sarah Chisholm
Wild Rye started with a mission to change the way people imagined baking from a box. We brought the best ingredients into people’s homes so they could make bakery-quality cakes with real ingredients in their own kitchens. Read more>>
marily acevedo
My journey has been driven by hard work, determination, and a passion for serving others. I began my career in hospitality, where I spent over 16 years ,managing and That experience taught me the value of exceptional customer service, attention to detail, and building meaningful relationships. While working in hospitality, I discovered my passion for photography. Read more>>
Melody Pope
I started modeling about seven years ago now when a co-worker (shoutout to my very dear friend, Misty) showed a selfie of me to her professional photographer friend and he asked about working together. Read more>>
Hayden Prince
My journey into photography wasn’t planned, it started with a setback. After being diagnosed with ocular motility dysfunction, I was told that my vision would likely continue to make everyday tasks more difficult. Around the same time, I was also told that pursuing baseball, the sport I loved, would become increasingly challenging. Read more>>
Amanda Jones
I’ve always been curious about people. Looking back, I think my career as a therapist started long before graduate school—it started as a little girl trying to understand the relationships around me. I knew from a young age that I wanted to help people. The only question was how. Read more>>
Rachel Kaplan
When I was young, I was bullied and teased, and I didn’t understand why. My mom explained to me that I had a learning disability and that it would take me longer to learn. My main source of learning was through Disney movies and musicals, which gave me hope and inspired me to keep believing in myself. Read more>>
Ellie Descoteaux
Ellie started this journey in 2019, just before the COVID pandemic. Now, in 2026, Boulder Sweets Bakery has grown into a business that participates in multiple craft fairs, holiday markets, and events across three New England states—New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts—during the fall and winter seasons. Like any small business, the journey has had its share of highs and lows. Read more>>
Jesus Galaz
Music has always been my passion. I grew up in Arizona and decided to take that passion seriously by attending the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences. After graduating, I built my own recording studio from the ground up and founded Dewzy Does It Productions. Read more>>
Lana Nguyen
After moving to the United States, I found myself rebuilding from the ground up. Like many immigrants, I had to start over, new country, new community, and new opportunities. Art became more than a creative outlet; it became a way to build a life that felt like my own. Today I’m based in Phoenix, where I create hand-colored, hand-cut paper collages. Read more>>
Laura Valenzuela
I believe we’re each entrusted with something that only we can bring into the world. Mine has always been vision. Since the beginning of my career, I’ve been less interested in selling and more interested in seeing—seeing beauty before it’s obvious, opportunity before it’s visible, and potential before it has a name. Read more>>
Destiny Liley
I’ve always been drawn to storytelling and bringing people together, even if it didn’t look the way it does today. Professionally, I built my career in digital media and content production as I’ve been working as a Senior Video Producer for the last decade, working with companies like BuzzFeed, CUT, Amazon Music, Google, and YouTube TV. Read more>>
Roman Myrkin
From World Champions to Successful Businesses: How to Turn Professional Skills into a life-changing company For my wife and me, dancing has always been much more than sports or art. This is a life’s work, around which not only our professional career, but also a successful international business has gradually developed. We started doing sports ballroom dancing when we were kids. Read more>>
Rick Rusch
I grew up in Buffalo, New York, where my mother taught me the importance of treating every person with dignity and respect. After serving seven years in the United States Marine Corps, including three years in Japan, I worked in career counseling before pursuing a twenty-year career as a professional photographer. Read more>>
Jon Baatz
Missy and I would love to share our journey for the Inspiring Stories series. Our path to founding 803 Outpost Coffee wasn’t a traditional business route—it was born out of dirt, mountain air, and a conscious decision to completely walk away from the corporate hamster wheel. Read more>>
Rod Dunlap
Hello! We’re Greg and Rod, the two founders of CaddyDaddy. Embarking on this venture over 20 years ago, we discovered our calling in the world of golf—a journey that’s been nothing short of extraordinary. Our story began unlike any other; two buddies navigating the world of medical software, only to be hit with a groundbreaking idea during one of Arizona’s infamously hot summers. Read more>>
KD Adams
My journey hasn’t been a straight line, and I believe that’s what makes it meaningful. I was adopted at three years old, experienced homelessness as a young adult, and have faced more setbacks than most people see. Instead of letting those experiences define me, I used them as motivation to build something bigger than myself. Read more>>
Jen Buck
Unlike a lot of people, I didn’t stumble into my career. I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I was 18 years old. I was attending the inaugural Women’s Conference in Long Beach, California, and Joan Rivers was the keynote speaker. I couldn’t tell you every joke she told that day, but I remember exactly how she made me feel. Read more>>
Sandra Hauptman
My love for photography came as every other teenager. My best friend and I would love to just take photos all day and dress up and have a blast with it, and then in High School I took a photography class and the rest was as they say history. Read more>>
Brittany Salazar and Deni Banach
Before we opened our doors, we were two friends with a dream and a lot of unknowns. We didn’t have everything figured out but we knew we wanted to create drinks that were different than what was being done and a space that brought our community together. Our idea started from a simple belief: that a coffee shop could be more than just coffee. Read more>>
Cody Finch
My story starts back when I was just a kid. I loved cooking with my grandmother who came to America as a Korean refugee during the Korean War. A lot of her culture came with her and I’ll always remember making mandu (Korean potstickers) with her. She would teach me how to marinate beef, make kimchi, soups, and so many other things. Read more>>
Izzy Sapien
I’ve been in digital marketing since college. My first real project was actually pitching a local beauty retailer, Citrine Natural Beauty Bar, on building out their email marketing strategy while I was studying at W.P. Carey. I actually vividly remember my first ‘real pitch’ at the Henry over lunch many years ago. Read more>>
Brett Carter
I am a queer paleontologist, living in the Boston area (well, closer to Providence, actually). I was inspired in 1998 by two Pokemon called Kabuto and Omanyte. While Kabuto is my favorite, as it’s based on a combination of trilobites and horseshoe crabs, Omanyte is really what got the ball rolling. Read more>>
